[Here's a phenomenon in mythology that can serve as an added dimension to
the classroom. I start the semester by presenting the following materials
right away, which freaks out the students effectively and yet is relevant
to the coming first roll call.]

1) In the third installment of the video version of The Power of
Myth, "The First Storytellers," comparative mythologist Joseph
Campbell is asked by Bill Moyers to name a myth that has had an impact on
his life. Instead of a narrative, he mentions an Indian practice of
changing one's name when one passes on to a new stage of life. (One also
changes one's style of dress, way of thinking, etc.)

2) The Anglo-Saxon hero Beowulf has a name that oddly does not alliterate
with all the names in the work that it should. This is because it is a
"kenning" -- an Anglo-Saxon compound noun that metaphorically stands for
something else. (Aside from the personifications in their smutty riddles,
this is about as "poetic" as Anglo-Saxons get.)

BEO-WULF = BEE-WOLF = BEE-ENEMY
So what is the enemy of the bee? A swatter? Agrichemicals?
A bear.
And Beowulf has some kind of folklore background, some connection with
the bear. Beowulf fights Grendel with his bear-like grip in the poem.

3) In traditional eskimo culture, a newborn would not be given a name
until a sign appeared.

4) If you were raised Catholic, you were probably expected to adopt a new
confirmation name when you reached the age of self-determination,
semi-adulthood.

In other words, there's your birth name -- the name you were given -- and
there's your mythological name -- the name you earn. I recommend to
students to adopt a mythological name for the Mythology course. They
should take some time, spend some time getting in touch with their inner
self or considering their key distinctive feature as human beings in
their culture -- what are they known for? From this they may derive their
mythological name. And once they've chosen -- either publicly or
privately for this class -- they turn in homework under this name; they
may expect to be called this; it becomes their name for the class
context.

Announcing that I mean no disrespect to Native American culture, quite
the opposite, I usually adopt the name Chief Crazy Dog when I teach
Mythology: "Chief" for my role in the class, "Crazy" for my neuroses, and
"Dog" because it seems to be my soul animal -- my dog Frog and I
understand one another.

My students over the years have included The Wheel, Princess Dancing
Feet, Eats-Like-A-Snake, Double-Down, Blue Iguana, Wayward Son, and Q. I
occasionally run into some of these students and know them only by their
mythological names, and they still call me Crazy Dog, as it should be.